"I know that, Miss Sarah, and that"s why I want you to go in. But if you don"t go in, I will, so there, now!"
"Well, just wait a little bit, and I"ll go."
The child, but half satisfied, slowly went away, but lingered about the pa.s.sages to watch the housekeeper. Night, however, came on, and he had not seen her going. All were now busy lighting up, and making the more immediate and active preparations for the reception of company, when he met her in the hall, and to his, "Look here, I say, Miss Sarah," she hurried past him unheeding.
The company at last a.s.sembled, and the hours had pa.s.sed away until it was nine o"clock. Without, all was cold, bleak, and cheerless.
Within, there was the perfection of comfort.
Little William had been absent for some time, but no one missed him.
Just as a large company were engaged in the various ways of pa.s.sing time, dancing, chatting, and partaking of refreshments, the room door opened, and in came Master Billy, dragging in by the hand, a little barefoot fellow about his own age, with nothing on but a clean, well-patched shirt, and a pair of linen trowsers. Without heeding the company, he pulled him up to the glowing grate, and in the fulness of his young benevolent heart, cried out,
"Here"s fire, Charley! Warm yourself, old fellow! Hurrah! I guess I"ve fixed Miss Sarah now." And the little fellow clapped his hands as innocently and as gracefully, as if there had been no one in the room but himself and Charley.
All was agreeable and curious confusion in a few minutes, and scores crowded around the poor child with a lively interest, who, an hour before would have pa.s.sed him in the street unnoticed.
"Why, w.i.l.l.y! what does all this mean?" exclaimed the father, after something like order had been restored.
"Why, pa, you see, this is Charley Warburton," began the little fellow, holding the astonished Charley by the hand, and presenting him quite ceremoniously to his father. "Doctor H--came here to-day, and told ma that his mother was sick next door, and that they had no wood. So ma tells Sarah to send John in with some wood, and to go in herself and see if they wanted anything. So Sarah goes and tells John to go and take some wood in. But John he wa"nt going to go, till I told him that if he didn"t go I would, and if I went to carrying in wood, I"d dirty all my clothes, and then somebody would want to know the reason. So John he carried in some wood. Then I watched Sarah, but she didn"t go in. So I told her about it. And then she promised, but didn"t go. I told her again, and she promised, but didn"t go. I waited and waited until night, and still Sarah didn"t go in. Then you see, awhile ago I slipped out the front door, and tried to go in to Mrs. Warburton"s. But it was all so dark there, that I couldn"t see anybody; and when I called "Charley,"
here, his mother said, softly, "who"s there," and I said "it"s only little w.i.l.l.y. Ma wants to know if you don"t want nothing." "Oh, it"s little w.i.l.l.y--it"s little w.i.l.l.y!" says Charley, and he jumps on the floor, and then we both came in here. O! it"s so dark and cold in there--do pa go in, and make John build them a fire."
During the child"s innocent but feeling recital, more than one eye filled with tears. Mrs.--hung down her head for a moment, in silent upbraidings of heart, for having consigned a work of charity to neglectful and unfeeling servants. Then taking her child in her arms, she hugged him to her bosom, and said,
"Bless you, bless you, my boy! That innocent heart has taught your mother a lesson she will not soon forget." The father felt prouder of his son than he had ever felt, and there were few present who did not almost wish him their own. Little Charley was asked by Mr.--if he was hungry, on observing him wistfully eyeing a piece of cake.
"We haint had nothin" to eat all day, sir, none of us."
"And why not, my little man?" asked Mr.--in a voice of a.s.sumed calmness.
""Cause, sir, we haint got nothin" to eat in the house. Mother always had good things for us till she got sick, and now we are all hungry, and haint got nothin" to eat."
"Here, Sarah, (to the housekeeper, who came in at the moment)--no, not you, either--do you, Emma, (to his wife,) give this hungry child some nourishing food with your own hands. He has a claim on you, for the sake of our little w.i.l.l.y."
Mrs.--was not slow in relieving Charley"s wants and then, after excusing herself to the company, she visited, with John and Sarah, the humble, uncomplaining child of humanity, who had been suffering, so painfully, in the next house to her comfortable dwelling.
The light carried by John revealed, in the middle of the floor, the armful of wood, in large logs, almost impossible to kindle, which the servant had thrown down there without a word, or an offer to make a fire. Mrs.--"s heart smote her when she saw this evidence of her neglect of true charity. Enveloped in the bed-clothes, she found Mrs. Warburton and her little child, the former suffering from pain and fever, and the latter asleep, with tears glistening on her eyelashes. The room was so cold that it sent chills all over her, as she had come in without throwing a shawl around her shoulders.
"I am sorry to find you so sick, and everything around you so cold and comfortless," she said, addressing Mrs. Warburton.
"I don"t feel so very sick, ma"am, only when I try to sit up, I grow so faint, and have to lie down again. If my little things had anything to eat, I wouldn"t mind it much."
Just then, aroused by the voice of her mother, the little girl awoke, and began moaning and crying. She could not speak plain, and her "bed and mik, mamma"--"O, mamma, bed and mik," thrilled every heart-string of Mrs.--, who had never before in her life witnessed the keen distress of a mother while her child asked in vain for bread. She drew the child out of bed, and kissing it, handed it to Sarah, whose feelings were also touched, and told her to take the little thing into her house, and give it to the nurse, with directions to feed it, and then come back.
By this time, John, rather more active than usual, had kindled a fire, the genial warmth of which began already to soften the keen air of the room. Some warm drinks were prepared for Mrs. Warburton; and Mrs.--had the satisfaction to see her, in the course of half an hour, sink away into a sweet and refreshing slumber. On glancing around the room, she was gratified, and somewhat surprised, to see everything, though plain and scanty, exhibiting the utmost order and cleanliness. The uncarpeted floor was spotless, and the single pine table as white as hands could make it. "How much am I to blame," was her inward thought, "for having so neglected this poor woman in her distress and in her poverty!"
On returning to her company, and giving a history of the scene she had just witnessed, the general feeling of sympathy prompted immediate measures for relief, and a very handsome sum was placed in the hands of Mrs.--, by the gentlemen and ladies present, for the use of Mrs. Warburton. Rarely does a social company retire with each individual of it so satisfied in heart as did the company a.s.sembled at Mrs.--"s, on that evening. Truly could they say, "It is more blessed to give than to receive."
The incident just related, possessing a kind of romantic interest, soon became noised about from family to family, and for awhile it was fashionable to minister to the wants of Mrs. Warburton--whose health continued very delicate--and to her young family. But a few months pa.s.sed away, and then one after another ceased to remember or care for her. Even Mrs.--, the mother of little Billy, began to grow weary of charity long continued, and to feel that it was a burdensome task to be every day or two obliged to call in or inquire after the poor invalid. Finally, she dismissed the subject from her mind, and left Mrs. Warburton to the tender mercies of Sarah, the housekeeper.
From a state of deep despondence to one of hope, had Mrs. Warburton been raised, by the timely aid afforded through the persevering interference of the little playmate of her son. But she soon began to perceive, after a time, that the charity was only spasmodic, and entered into without a real consideration of her peculiar case. The money given her was the best a.s.sistance that could have been rendered, for with this she obtained a supply of wood, flour, meal, potatoes, and some warm clothing for her little ones. But this would not last always, and the mult.i.tude of little nice things sent from this one and that, were of but little service.
The month of March, so trying to a weak and shattered const.i.tution, found her just well enough to venture out to seek for employment at her old business of cigar-making. She readily obtained work, and again sat down to earn for herself and children, the bread that should nourish them. But she was soon made to feel keenly that her health was not as it had been. A severe pain in the side was her daily companion, and she had to toil on, often sick and faint, from daylight until long after others had sought the grateful repose of their pillows. Painfully alive to a sense of dependence, she was ready at any time to work beyond her strength rather than to eat the bread of charity. This kept her steadily bending over her work until nature again became exhausted, and she was forced, from direct debility, to suspend her labours for at least the half of every day.
As April came in, with an occasional warm day, her appet.i.te gradually left her, and she began to experience a loathing of food.
Weakness, headaches, and other painful warnings of nature, were the consequences. Her earnings were now so small, that she with difficulty procured enough of food for her children. She knew that if she would let Mrs.--know her pressing dest.i.tution, food and other necessaries would be supplied; but she shrank from telling her wants. Finding, however, that her strength continued to fail, until she was unable to sit up but for a few hours at a time, and that, in consequence of her extreme weakness, the nausea produced by the tobacco was so great, as to render it almost impossible for her to work in it, she made up her mind to let her boy go in to Mrs.--, with a request to send her some little thing that she could eat, in hopes that something from her table might provoke an appet.i.te.
Mrs.--was sitting at her dinner-table, which was covered with the luxuries of the season, when little Charley came into the room and handed in his poor mother"s request.
"Please, ma"am, mother says will you be so good as to send her some little thing that she could eat. She has no appet.i.te, and not eatin"
makes her so weak."
"Here"s some pie, Charley," struck in little Billy. "It"s good, I tell you! Eat it now; and ma, do send in Charley"s mother a piece, too: I know she"ll like it."
But Billy and his mother did not agree in this. The latter thought a little sago would be much better. So she gave Charley a paper in which were a few spoonfuls of sago.
"Here is some sago, mother," said Charley, on his return, "Mrs.--says it will do you good."
Now it so happened that, from a child, she had never liked sago.
There was something in it so insipid to her, that she had never felt an inclination to more than taste it. Particularly now did her stomach loathe it. But, even if she had felt an inclination to taste the sago, she had not, at the time, any way to prepare it so as to make it palatable. She did not, however, at the time, send for anything else. She still had some flour and potatoes, and a little change to buy milk, and on these her children fared very well.
Healthy food does not cost a great deal in this country, and Mrs.
Warburton had long before learned to husband well her resources.
On the next morning she tried to get up, but fainted away on the floor. Her children were still asleep, and were not even awakened by her fall. It was some time before she recovered sufficiently to crawl upon the bed; and there she lay; almost incapable of thought or motion, for hours. As feeble nature reacted again, and she was able to think over her situation, she made up her mind to send in her little boy again to Mrs.--, with an apology for not using the sago, and request her to give her some little thing from her table--anything at all that would be likely, as she said, "to put a taste in her mouth," and induce an appet.i.te for food. The child delivered the message in the best way he knew how, but some how or other it offended the ear of Mrs.--, who had begun to be tired of what she was pleased to call the importunities of Mrs. Warburton; though, in fact, she had never before even hinted that she was in want of anything. The truth was, Sarah, the housekeeper, had heard something from somebody, about Mrs. Warburton, and had been relating the puerile scandal to Mrs.--, who, instead of opposing the tattling propensity in her servant, encouraged it, by lending to her silly stories an attentive ear. But the story was false, from beginning to end, as are nearly all the idle rumours which are constantly circulating from one family to another, through the medium of servants.
"How did she do," she had just been saying to Sarah, "before I befriended her? It is a downright imposition upon my good-nature, and I have no notion of encouraging idleness."
"The fact is, ma"am," chimed in the maid, "these here poor people, when you once help "em, think you must be a"ways at it; they find it so much easier to beg than work."
Just at this stage of conversation, the child timidly preferred the humble and moderate request of his sick mother; a request that should have thrilled the heart of any one possessing a single human sympathy. But it came at the wrong moment. The evil of self-love was active in the heart of Mrs.--, and all love of the neighbour was for the time extinguished. She cast upon the child a look so forbidding that the little fellow turned involuntarily to go.
"Here, Sarah," said she, in a half-angry tone, "send Mrs. Warburton a dried herring. Perhaps that will "put a taste in her mouth.""
And a herring was sent!
"It"s a pretty pa.s.s, indeed," said Miss Sarah, as the child closed the door, "when beggars become choosers!"
Only half satisfied with herself, Mrs.--turned away and made no reply. How differently did she feel on the night, when, with her own hands, she ministered to the wants of this same suffering child of humanity! Then her heart, though melted even to tears, felt a bounding gladness, from the consciousness of having relieved the suffering. Now it was heavy and sad in her bosom, and she could not hush the whispers of an accusing conscience.
Little Charley carried home the herring, and laid it on the bed before his sick mother. His own little heart was full, for he could not mistake the manner of Mrs.--for kindness. Mrs. Warburton looked at the uninviting food, and turned her head away. After awhile, it did seem to her as if the fish would taste good to her, and she raised herself up with an effort, and breaking off a small piece, put it languidly to her lips. The morsel thrilled upon the nerve of taste, and she ate the greater part of it with a relish she had not known for many weeks.
In the mean time the heart of Mrs.--smote her so severely, when all at once she remembered having lost her appet.i.te after a spell of sickness, and the difficulty with which she regained it;--how during the day, nothing could tempt her to eat, while all night long she would dream of rich banquets, of which she eagerly desired to partake, but which changed to tasteless morsels, when she lifted the inviting food to her lips. For a time she strove against her feelings, but at last gave up, and ringing for the cook, directed her to broil a couple of thin slices of ham very nicely, make a good cup of tea, and a slice or two of toast. When this was ready, it was sent in to Mrs. Warburton. It came just in time, and met the excited appet.i.te of the faint-hearted invalid. It was like manna in the wilderness, and revived and refreshed her drooping frame.
From this time she gradually regained her appet.i.te and strength; and had the gratification of being able to earn with her own hands enough for the support of her children.
This she continued to do until the expiration of the solitary confinement term of her husband. How wearily pa.s.sed the long, long days and nights, as the time approached for her again to look upon the face that had been hid from her sight for three sorrowful years!
The long absence had only excited her affection for him. Not as the dead had she thought of him, but as of the living, and of the suffering. Her own deep poverty, sickness, and anxious concern for her children she counted as nothing to his lonely endurance of life.
Some weeks before the expiration of the first term of imprisonment, she gathered together all her little store, and having sold many heavy articles, packed the rest, and had them started for Columbus, the capital of the state. She then took a deck-pa.s.sage for herself and children in a steamboat for Portsmouth, from which place she determined to walk, carrying her youngest child, a little girl of nearly three years, in her arms. I will not linger with her, nor trace her toilsome and lonely journey through strange places, continued without a day"s intermission, until she at last came in sight of the long-looked-for place. After the time-worn state-house, the next building that met her eye, was the old, dark-looking prison, in which was confined her husband. How gladly did her eyes greet its sombre walls! It was the dwelling-place of one, for whom, in all his wanderings, her heart retained its warm emotions of love.
Suddenly, like a parching wind of the desert, came upon her the thought that he might be dead. For three long years she had not been permitted to receive tidings from him, and who could tell, if in that time, the wing of death had not o"ershadowed him? Trembling, weary, and sick at heart, she made her way first to the prison-gate, and there, to her unspeakable joy, she learned that he still lived.